


you are my perfect color

by cowaabuunga



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Case Fic, Eventual Smut, Getting Together, He/They Sam Winchester, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Episode s15e17, author is a sucker for tropes so rest assured they'll be here, they/them Jack Kline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29336655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowaabuunga/pseuds/cowaabuunga
Summary: Chuck has been defeated, Jack's been promoted, and the rest of TFW is figuring out their new normal. Cas and Dean still haven't gotten their heads out of their asses, obviously. It's driving Sam absolutely insane. Luckily our favorite lesbian is here to keep him sane. Both of them hope that there's only so much more pining that can go on.The plot is Destiel driven, but I will be including some Saileen (maybe even Saileena) content too. The main focus is Destiel; Saileen and Saileena are just really fun for me, so I want to include them too. Or maybe I’ll make this a series in a canon-divergent collection. I want to have fun with it! ;)Canon-divergent after 15x17. Even though Jack is God now, you'll get dadstiel and dad!Dean, I promise.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 4





	you are my perfect color

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, starting another fic with another one already in progress? Definitely not. Except for the fact that I am.

Despite knowing Sam, Dean, Jack, and Charlie would have his back no matter what he was, Cas still feels scared. What if Dean sends him away, like the last time? What if Sam doesn’t care about him anymore? What if Jack wouldn’t see him the same? What if Charlie had only felt obligated to be his friend and she left?

But of course, overthinking was an instrumental piece of the Winchester family bundle, and he needn’t worry. All of his family treated him the same, well at least fundamentally. If anything, Dean had been acting _nicer_. Standing a little bit closer. Touches lingering a moment longer. Eyes softer than Cas had ever seen them.

Charlie had to flee San Diego, the last city she was in, so she was staying at the bunker. After San Diego, Charlie had been tossing around the idea of hunting full time. Sam said that he would support whatever decision she made and Dean reluctantly agreed. Cas was less vocal, as he was considering the same. He’d been with the Winchesters for years, but never had he been a real hunter. Charlie was hella inspiring and when the day came, Charlie made her decision, and so did Cas.

“I’m gonna do it!” Charlie announces one Thursday morning as she enters the library, prompting glances from Sam and Cas. “Hunt full time!” She clarifies.

Sam, who is sitting at the table on their laptop, replies, “Great timing, Charlie. Just caught a case.”

“You want me to go?”

“No, Charles,” Dean enters the room carrying two mugs, “ _we_ are _all_ going to go.”

Cas, although already intrigued, perks up at that. Dean notices and awkwardly adds, “Unless you don’t want to go, Cas, that’s fine.”

“No, no,” Cas adds quickly, “I’m going.”

Dean sits next to Cas in an identical armchair, setting down one of the mugs on the end table in between them, “Alright then. Drink your coffee before we go killing shit.”

Charlie is practically buzzing with excitement as she skips to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Dean was about to ask where they were going, but realizes that Charlie will want to be here for all of it. Sam is clicking away on his laptop, absentmindedly drinking his health-shake. 

Cas had found himself slipping back into his mind, drinking his coffee, just before Dean pats him on the shoulder, lowering his voice, “You don’t have to go, man. I—” Dean pauses, thinking over his words carefully. “I’ll stay here with you if you want.”

“No, Dean,” Cas says sharply, alerting Sam to the conversation, “Stop worrying.”

Dean is holding back a _‘Have you met me?’_ but says nothing, just retracts his hand and drinks his coffee in silence.

Charlie returns a few minutes later (Dean swears she was bouncing) and Sam begins his explanation, “Looks like we’re heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa. Couple ‘o teenagers went camping—” 

“Always camping teenagers, when will they learn their lesson?”

“Shut up. They were midnight swimming and supposedly a small turtle man grabbed this kid and pulled him to the bottom of the lake. He never resurfaced, no body was found.”

“I’m sorry? A small turtle man?”

“Yes, Dean, a small turtle man.”

Dean gapes comically, “I mean I don’t think we can just _ignore_ a small turtle man.”

“Hey, Dean?” Sam stands in their brother’s doorway, backpack slung over his shoulder. 

“What’s up?” Dean stuffs two extra shirts in his pack, glancing at Sam.

“You and Cas; you guys good?”

“What’re you talking about? ‘Course we are.”

“This morning, he didn’t seem happy.”

“Yeah, uh,” Dean pauses and sits on his bed, running his hand over his face. He’d promised himself he’d be more open to _talking_ , “He’s j—I’m worried, Sammy. His grace, I know he can handle it, but he’s been extra...withdrawn.” 

Sam pauses before responding, “I know, I see it too. I’m worried about him too, but—”

“You know, I am not human yet, I still have the hearing of a celestial being,” Cas's voice came from somewhere in the hall.

Needless to say, that shuts the brothers up real quick.

Since this was Charlie’s first case as a full-time hunter, Sam insisted she ride shotgun, leaving him and Cas in the back.

The first few minutes of the ride indicate to Dean that nobody was up for talking, so he turns on a random cassette. Charlie plays on her Switch, while Dean tries to ignore Cas and Sam talking quietly in the backseat.

Cas's mind was made up when Charlie’s was, but he wanted a second opinion. Sure, he could talk to Dean about it, but for some reason talking to Sam felt less intimidating. No, intimidating isn’t the word. He isn’t sure what the right one is.

Unbeknownst to Cas, if he had spoken about his dilemma with Dean, Dean’s hopes would have skyrocketed. Dean, worried about Cas's weakening grace as he was, was hoping the almost-not-angel would stick around permanently. Coming along on hunts, actually _living_ at the bunker, eating breakfast with De—the rest of the family.

“Sam, what do you think?” Sam opens his mouth to speak but Cas cuts him off, “Be honest.”

“Honestly? I think it’s a great idea. I mean, you’re going to need to train because of your...grace,” Sam pauses, unsure, but Cas just nods. “But yeah, it’s a great idea. Dean’s gonna be excited.”

Something in Cas's chest flutters, but before he could ask why _Dean_ specifically, Dean speaks.

Dean clears his throat, “So, uh, what is the kid up to now?” 

Charlie looks up. Cas and Sam exchange a look. “Still rebuilding heaven,” Cas speaks up, surprised when his voice falters.

“Ah.”

 _Well, that was awkward_ seems to be the consensus all around the car. Charlie’s too invested in her _Breath of the Wild_ playthrough to acknowledge it much. Sam got a text (“Oooo Sammy, is it your _giiiirlfriend?”_ ) and Cas drifts back into his mind. Dean’s gaze flickers between the road and the rearview mirror as he sneaks glances at Cas. As invested as she was, _that_ is not something Charlie could miss.

“We’ve got another one,” Sam announces a few hours into the drive. Cas hums and Charlie moves her head to show she heard him, but didn’t look away from her game.

“‘Nother missing?” Dean questions.

“Yeah,” Sam confirms, “Two of the teens went back to the lake to look for our boy Teddy, only one came back.”

“ _Seriously,_ when are these _damn kids_ _going to learn their lesson_?” Dean emphasizes the last few words. “And who the _hell_ let them go?”

“Well according to the kid who came back, no one. They were all locked at home, their parents were scared shitless, but you know — teenagers.”

Cas grumbles, “ _Yeah_ .” Charlie perks up at that, guess they’d forgotten to tell her about ~~most things~~ Claire.

Dean’s gaze flickered to his best friend, confused, before realizing he probably meant Claire. “Kid troubles, Cas?”

“She’s using her ‘lingo’ to confuse me, I think.” 

Dean snorts, both at the prospect of Claire confusing Cas and the fact he could _hear_ Cas's finger quotes, “Yeah, sounds like her.”

Charlie raises her eyebrows at each person in the car and gestures for them to elaborate. Dean obliges, “Cas's vessel, Jimmy, had a daughter,” Cas winces at that, Dean smiles apologetically. “And now she’s been adopted by about four hunters.”

“Oh yeah, I read about her in the books. Claire, right?” Everyone scrunches their noses at that.

“Yeah, Claire,” Dean grunts.

“Okay, anyway,” Sam realizes they’d gotten way too off-track, “the girl who disappeared, Ella Oakland: she’s sixteen. The kid who came back, Cloud Mattinson, they’re seventeen.”

“Number one, badass name. Number two, what’d they say?” Charlie asks.

“Uh,” Sam pauses and scrolls on his phone, “That they and Ella went back to look for Teddy. They both thought they heard a scream, ran towards the sound, Cloud looked away for a second, and when they looked back, Ella screamed and got grabbed ‘by something so fast I couldn’t see more than a shadow.’”

“Well, that sounds like a wendigo,” Dean furrows his brow.

“Right, but last time I checked, wendigos aren’t swimmers. Nor are they small turtle men,” Sam counters.

“I _know_ , Sam.”

They’re silent again until Charlie puts her Switch away and asks, “So, anyone wanna tell me anything else they forgot?” She eyes between Dean and Cas, to Dean’s confusion.

“How about the story of God’s sister?” Sam pipes up after a minute.

“I’m _sorry_ ? How the hell did you just _not_ mention _God’s freaking sister_?”

Dean smiles at the last three words, as they were the same as those he used years ago. Sam tells the story, with Dean and Cas butting in every so often. Sam hadn’t left out the part about meeting Eileen, but they did move on from it awfully quickly. Dean makes sure to point that out, which leads to a back and forth between the brothers.

“ _Dean_ , you made out with God’s sister!”

“I’m sorry, Dean _you did what_?” Charlie squeaks.

“Shut it, Sam, at least _I_ didn’t fuck up my first attempt at sign language,” Dean said before realizing how untrue that was, and Sam noticed.

“Oh, really?! I don’t think _I_ was the one to mix up ‘church’ and ‘chocolate!’” That one earns a chuckle from Cas.

“They’re really close, okay?!” Dean insists, flushing.

“So was my first fuck up!”

That continues for a while.

“As much as I love hearing about your fucking batshit adventures, I would like to get some sleep before we go killin’ a small turtle man,” Charlie finally sighs.

“Sorry, _mom_ ,” Dean replies, earning a punch to his arm.

Cas, surprisingly, never comments on the brothers’ bickering. Maybe it was because he was staring at Dean with a small, stupid smile plastered on his face the entire time, which thankfully, nobody notices.

The final two hours pass without further incident. Charlie sneaks in a half-hour nap, Cas spends his time listening to music (recommended by guess who) on his phone and staring out the window, and Sam, Dean guesses, fucking “plays” sudoku or something. It’s six in the evening when they get to Cedar Falls. Sam tells the rest of the gang to go get food while he gets rooms, because he had a headache and didn’t want to deal with diner lights. Dean drops Sam off at the first motel he sees, which wasn’t his _best_ decision but whatever, it works.

Charlie chooses the diner. Dean, even though he’s traveled all over the country with multiple people, was always anxious letting other people pick new places to eat. Maybe he’s gotten too comfortable at the bunker. It’s a controlled environment, a home, something he’s never had. Maybe—

Dean’s pondering is interrupted by Charlie’s insistence, “Dude, snap out of it, I’m starving.”

“Alright, alright.”

The trio enter the mom-and-pop diner, which isn’t exactly packed. Actually, there are barely any people there. It’s a Tuesday evening, Dean figures there’d be more people, but maybe it’s just a slow day. They sit at a booth close enough to eavesdrop on the teens in the corner booth if needed, but not too close that the kids could hear them without trying, or get suspicious. Charlie slides into one side, followed by Dean. Cas sits opposite them, his legs bumping Dean’s as they sit in the slightly-too-small booth.

A cheery man in his late twenties or early thirties comes to take their orders a few minutes later and gives Charlie a bit too much attention. Dean finds the situation quite funny. The clueless waiter leaves their table with a spring in his step.

“Damn Charles, might want to duck out of here fast when we leave, ‘think he might follow you.”

“Ha, ha,” Charlie rolled her eyes, but smiled playfully.

“On the other hand, he might have something for our case,” Cas chips in, “Do you think you would be able to ‘flirt with him’ for information?”

“I don’t know, Cas,” Charlie flashes a smile at Dean, nudging him with her elbow, “Might have to have Dean coach me through it again.”

Cas raised his eyebrows at that. Dean playfully punches Charlie’s shoulder, but seems a bit embarrassed, “Thought we agreed that never happened.”

“You and _Sam_ agreed it never happened. Me on the other hand? Not forgetting that anytime soon.”

Cas looks between them for the story, but Dean looks sternly at Charlie, who doesn’t say a word. Their food arrives and the poor waiter lingers for a moment, looking at Charlie. Charlie, remembering Cas's request, smiles sweetly, which seemingly sends Liam, according to his nametag, into a mental frenzy. Dean watches the whole scene and has to hold himself back from laughing, whether in amusement or awkwardness, he doesn’t know.

Finally, Liam breaks the silence, “If you’re staying in town for a bit, would you want to grab dinner?”

Charlie, internally both gagging and apologizing, smiles as authentically as she can muster, “Yeah, definitely.”

Liam’s face breaks into a grin and he bounces away from the table. After his back is turned, Charlie sighs and rolls her eyes, “Why is it _always_ _me_?”

“Oh cheer up, kiddo. Cas'll go out with the next waiter.”

“I will what?”

“No no, Dean, _you’re_ going out with the next waiter. You tend to attract men more often than Cas,” Charlie says simply.

Dean sputters at that, sending Charlie into a fit of laughter. Cas chuckles, but he didn’t see what was funny. Charlie’s right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, loves.
> 
> ~ Sam


End file.
